Philadelphia Flyers: Playing with Hart

VOORHEES, N.J. — The Flyers lost three games in the first four days of this abbreviated season. On Day 5, it went from bad to worse.

First, they learned forward Brayden Schenn was suspended for one game by the NHL for a hit he put on New Jersey’s Anton Volchenkov Tuesday. But out of that same game against the Devils came much worse news, that the shot Scott Hartnell took off his left foot will sideline him for an indefinite period of time.

In a statement Wednesday night, Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said only that Hartnell, “will be out indefinitely with a left foot injury. We will know more on this within a day or two as we await results of tests.”

Hartnell was walking around the locker room at Prudential Center after a 3-0 loss to the Devils Tuesday with a bag of ice taped to the top of the foot. But it worsened to the point that he was held out of practice at the Skate Zone Wednesday.

“It’s one of the worst places, I guess,” Danny Briere said of Hartnell’s injury. “Every stride you take, you’re going to feel it. ... It’s one of those painful injuries that are nagging all game long, but hopefully nothing too serious.”

If it shows up to be merely a bad bruise, Hartnell may not be looking at a long absence. But if testing reveals a fracture, and the top of a foot is often a very vulnerable area because of lack of protection in that area of the skate, he might be looking at being out for weeks.

The Flyers could ill afford a loss like that in a shortened season.

“It’s horrible,” defenseman Kurtis Foster said of such an injury. “One of those things where your foot goes numb right away. Usually you can walk it off and finish the game. But when you take that boot off and the swelling starts to come, it gets bigger and bigger and that’s when the pain comes.”

So with Schenn suspended and Hartnell out with an injury, Claude Giroux’s two top-line wingers are out. Briere, still recovering from a hairline fracture of his wrist, still isn’t ready to play despite lightly participating in practice Wednesday.

So Jake Voracek will skate with Giroux, perhaps with Wayne Simmonds or maybe speedy Eric Wellwood by their side. Or Matt Read? Or maybe promoted Phantom Tye McGinn?

Bottom line: For a team averaging one goal per game and desperate for a victory, it isn’t getting any easier.

“We’re not panicking here, but we obviously need to win this,” Simmonds said. “We’re 0-3 now and every game is obviously crucial. You want to get two points whenever you can.”

The Rangers, who lost their first two games before their game with the Bruins Wednesday night, are a popular choice for a Stanley Cup favorite. They’ve also won their last eight games against the Flyers, dating to Feb. 20, 2011.

So the Flyers might be shorthanded, but at least they’ll be getting the Rangers on the second night of a back-to-back.

With fingers crossed, of course.

“Whatever it takes,” Simmonds said. “We had some pretty good battles last year against the Rangers. I think that’s in the backs of our minds, that we didn’t get a win against them. So we have to go out and prove that we’re a good team here.”

“They got the best of us for sure last year,” coach Peter Laviolette said, “and we’d like to fix that. They didn’t in years before that, but last year they did, and we need to get back on track. Whether it’s the Rangers, the Devils, the Penguins or the Bruins, we need to prepare to win a hockey game.”

l l lSchenn was saying little just prior to his conference call hearing with NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. When pressed about the hit, he admitted to being “surprised, I guess you could say; a little bit, that the hearing is scheduled. But I just have to see what they have to say.”

Sitting nearby in the Flyers’ locker room, big brother Luke Schenn said he was “shocked” upon hearing the hit was being reviewed.

l l l NOTES: While all chaos has already broken out, Briere is trying to get back. He will likely be re-examined today and is hoping to get cleared for contact. He’s also still hoping to play over the weekend, but indicated that would be a very optimistic outlook. “I feel helpless,” Briere said. “You want to be out there, but you can’t. It’s frustrating; it’s disappointing. But I know I’m not too far away, so I’m trying to focus on that. As for a best-case guess on a return, Briere said, “maybe the weekend, maybe after the weekend.” ... Foster’s “maintenance day” that kept him off the ice in Newark for both the morning skate and game was probably something more than that. He said Wednesday he “felt fresh,” saying the complete day off was prompted by “just a little thing that happened a couple of days ago.” Foster said it had nothing to do with the clavicle he fractured while playing in Finland during the lockout, saying that’s left him with only, “a big bump I’ll have for life.”